Wild is the Wind
by Initial Brainfreeze
Summary: Left with no choice but to comply to the Labyrinth's wishes after his defeat, Jareth is transported Aboveground to find the one person who is capable of restoring his kingdom. Little does he realize how much of a difference 15 years can make.
1. No Control

**Wild is the Wind**

**Chapter 1 - No Control**

"I will not follow her."

Everything was white. What was this substance floating in the air around him? Not snow. Ah yes, they were feathers. Why feathers? He no longer knew, no longer cared. His only wish was to be free of the burden placed on his heart. A heart he hadn't believed was capable of feeling such pain until very recently.

_I am afraid that we no longer have a choice._

The voice of the Labyrinth rang in his ears. Would it not leave him be for just a moment? Would it not cease its constant pestering only so he could collect his thoughts, so he could deal with his newly-found emotions in private? No; it was always there, that voice in the back of his head, the voice that drove him-was driving him-to the brink of insanity.

He felt himself trembling, and looked around startled, thinking that the earth might have shifted. So soon? It was only when he looked down to see his clenched fists that he realized it was of his own accord.

"I refuse to go galavanting after a mortal girl after she so blatantly refused my offer!" He was yelling now, audibly. It didn't matter if he spoke aloud; nothing could be hidden from Her.

_Your emotions cloud your reason. You forget yourself._

How dare she treat him as such. He was king, wasn't he? _Goblin King_, he reminded himself. The title did not imply King of the Labyrinth, although that was the role he had assumed for as long as anyone else could remember.

"Can you not give me a moment of peace?" he yelled at the stagnant air, tearing his feathered cape from his back and throwing it at the stone floor, breathing heavily.

_You are acting like a child._

"And what would you have me do?" he bellowed. "Capture her against her will and force her hand in marriage?"

The Labyrinth was silent.

"I will not do such a thing." He managed to control his breathing, but his head was still spinning. How could she be so ungrateful? He had offered her everything. He had offered her_ himself_. And yet she had thrown it back in his face as if it had meant nothing.

_I do not require a queen._

It was his turn to be silent. He froze, waiting for what would come next.

_I require Sarah Williams of the Above. I care not what you do with the mortal. You know as well as I the consequences if you are to fail. You know what is at stake._

He was silent for another moment before responding. "You are concerned only for your own well-being." Feeling that he had struck a nerve, he smirked as well as he could in his current state of emotional distress. "I can sense your fear."

She was quick to recover. _You know full well that it is not solely my life force that is threatened._

He paused, focusing on the cape he had discarded moments earlier. "She will not cooperate."

_It matters not. You will travel Above and transport the girl to the Underground after she has been found._

He brought his trembling hands to his face as he absorbed what the Labyrinth was asking him to do. "She is too young," he choked, nearly a whisper.

_Are we in agreement, Goblin King?_

He took fistfuls of his once smooth and tame platinum hair and sank slowly to the floor. There were no other options. His kingdom or his heart-were they not one in the same? How had it come to this...desperation? He could see no other way to restore the balance. He could not bring himself to say it aloud, but thinking it was enough. _Very well._ He could feel the almost sadistic satisfaction the Labyrinth felt in seeing him suffer so, and he despised her for it.

_Very well indeed. I shall take up the responsibility of attempting to rebuild what you allowed that mortal to destroy. However, to do so I will need to borrow your remaining magic._

Jareth looked up, glaring at nothing. If only he could see it, feel it, have something palpable to wring with his bare hands...

_You cannot disguise your anger from me._

"I do not attempt to," he bit out, nails digging into his clenched palms.

_You know that without it, it is not possible. Time is short. You would do well to remember that we have shared interests._ The voice had grown colder.

He stood slowly and raised his head, salvaging whatever was left of his pride. "May you burn for eternity in the innermost circle of Hell."

He was resolute against the deep laugh that followed. _Then I shall be sure to make a reservation for two, my dear Goblin King._

And before he could form a response, he felt himself being pulled into a vortex that he had not the power or will to fight. He felt himself weakening, being drained, as if his soul was being torn in two. If he had not his recent defeat by the girl to judge by, the pain would have been unlike any he had ever experienced. And so the mighty Goblin King was expelled to the Above in order to find the missing piece to his Labyrinth.

* * *

><p>A frustrated Goblin King slammed his fist against his oak wood dining room table. Fifteen years had passed since the day whose fate had not relented in its control over his life. Fifteen years and no contact with Sarah Williams; fifteen years and no sign of hope of ever returning to the Underground. He had been trapped here, and while the absence of the voice of the Labyrinth constantly eating at the back of his mind was a thing he was more than glad to be rid of, his utter lack of magical ability allowed him no means whatsoever to contact the person he had for so long been searching.<p>

He had been forced to get a job, buy a home, and more or less do what every other mortal did in the Above: fight for survival. How they could live like this for so many generations he would never understand. But the fact was that now, he was considered one of them. Of course, he still retained certain ethereal qualities, among them his immortality and delicate features, but he had seen no other option but to conform to other more...surface qualities of the life he now led.

He ran his long fingers through his now short blond hair and sighed as he waited for his tea to steep. He was losing what was from the beginning a hopeless battle. He wasn't even sure what the mortal girl_ looked_ like anymore, let alone if she was still in the country or still-. _Don't think about that_, he told himself. _It won't get you anywhere._ But even on the off chance that he was able to contact her, he knew there was no chance of her accepting him or accepting the cold truth that she had no choice but to come back with him to the Underground. If there was even an Underground to go back to. He shot a glance from his tea to the alcohol cabinet, but decided against it.

Walking over to his couch-still strange that it was his-he sat down with his mug of hot tea and turned on the television for a weather update. He sighed. He never watched the weather. What had his existence become?

Staring blankly at the screen, he noticed that the person standing in front of the projection was discussing a series of tornadoes that were predicted to hit the Midwest and the greater Chicago area. As much as he longed to return to his home, he had to admit that the technology humans had developed over the centuries without magic astounded him. He continued thinking on this topic until something the weatherman said caught his attention, causing him to scald his mouth with hot tea and spill it down his front.

"And now we take it to Sarah Williams in the field."

No...it couldn't be. It was a common name. But he was proven wrong when the video transitioned to a young woman with a microphone standing by a van in the middle of what seemed to be a terrible storm. "Thanks Jim. As you can see, the progression of the storm..."

He didn't hear the rest. He was so preoccupied looking at the woman on the screen that he had even leaned in closer, eyes wide, as if it would help him see her more clearly. Certainly she had changed-significantly even-but there was no question that the female reporter was indeed the Sarah Williams who ran the Labyrinth fifteen years ago.

He sat there for a while longer, allowing hot tea to stain his shirt without a thought, before letting a mischievous smile spread across his face. A decade and a half was a long time to wait, but he couldn't have asked for this to work out in his favor any better than it had. Placing his mug on the table, he waited for the screen to transition back to the network station before standing with a renewed confidence that he hadn't felt the likes of in years.

"I do believe it's time to buy a ticket to Chicago."

* * *

><p><strong>Disclaimer:<strong> I do not own Labyrinth or any of its characters. Labyrinth belongs to The Jim Henson Company and all applicable associates.

**A/N:**

**And I'm back! I have outlined this entire story and am very excited about it. As a disclaimer, I do not plan to write this entirely from Jareth's POV. The first couple of chapters will be exclusively Jareth and Sarah respectively, and from then on I plan on switching back and forth within chapters when I deem it appropriate. It'll be a challenge, but I feel that it will be more rewarding for readers in the end than a single viewpoint. I know that Sarah has not yet been properly introduced, but let me know what you think so far! Reviews keep me going!**


	2. A New Career in a New Town

**Chapter 2 - A New Career in a New Town**

"Are you insane, Williams? Turn the van around!"

She couldn't hear the photographer over the roar of the storm outside the vehicle, but she could guess what he was saying. "Just let me have fun with this one, Parker!" she yelled back without tearing her eyes off the black cyclone only miles away. Stepping on the gas, she sent the network van speeding down the deserted strip of road in the American Midwest.

This is what she loved; the thrill of the chase. After graduating with honors with a bachelor's degree in physics, she pursued her master's in meteorology, and eventually landed her dream job of being a storm chaser for a weather agency. There was just something irreplaceable about the adrenaline rush she got when she drove toward an F4 tornado or into a supercell cloud formation. Of course she took her job seriously, but she admitted (if only to herself) that at times she had a bit too much fun. Of course, she was the scientist; photography and filming weren't her forte. That's what Parker was for.

"Christ, you're driving right into it!" Sarah glanced over to see her photographer trembling in his seat, fumbling with his camera.

She laughed. "Aren't you supposed to be a _nature_ photographer? And I'm not driving_ right_ into it," she defended herself, pouting a bit at his exaggeration. "I just want to get a better look. I'd get your act together, Parker; storms like this don't come around too often."

No response.

"Shouldn't you be filming this?" Her voice barely carried over the howling wind, but when she raised her eyebrows at his camera, the young man jumped a bit in his seat and raised it shakily to his face. Where did the station find these guys?

So she was a bit of a thrill-seeker. But who could blame her? After all, after _that_ incident fifteen years ago, she found that none of her previous hobbies particularly interested her anymore. Acting became boring compared to the real thing, and stuffed animals and figures weren't much fun when one had friends who actually _were_ the fantastic creatures of fantasy worlds. But not a few months after her life-changing adventure, her family had moved, and the mirror in her room, along with all of her other childhood belongings, were either put into storage or sold, never to be seen again.

Sarah sighed. She had never mentioned her journey through the Labyrinth to anyone. In fact, it had been so long since she had seen or heard anything of the Underground that she started to doubt its very existence. There was a very real chance, at least in her scientifically inclined adult mind, that it had all been a dream, or a figment of an overactive teenage imagination. Why she didn't just write it off as that and leave it be she didn't know. Perhaps it was because of...

"WILLIAMS!"

Sarah snapped out of her reverie only to see what appeared to be debris from the nearby forest heading straight for the windshield. She jerked the steering wheel to the left, just barely avoiding what would have undoubtedly been a nasty accident. Stepping on the break, she spun the car 180 degrees until it was facing the way they came.

"What the hell was that?" came Parker's voice from beside her. They were both out of breath, still in disbelief that they had slimly dodged injury or worse.

What had come over her all of a sudden? She took a deep breath, still aware of the risky situation they were currently in, and started driving down the road at top speed. "Sorry," she said softly.

The car ride back to the station was silent. As she pulled into the garage and out of the pouring rain, Sarah shakily unbuckled her seatbelt and stepped out of the van, refusing to make eye contact with her accompanying photographer. They both came around to the front of the vehicle and hesitantly met each other's gazes.

"I won't say anything," Parker spoke honestly. She opened her mouth to thank him and apologize all at once, but he stopped her. "This time." He shook his head as he adjusted his camera bag on his shoulder. "I swear Sarah, one of these days you're going to get yourself killed. Be careful, alright?"

She returned his words of concern with a nervous smile. "Roger that." She patted him on the back as they made their way into the broadcasting station's main building. "Don't worry about me."

"Williams! Parker! Where have you two been?" A sharp female voice cut through the air, disrupting their moment of peace. Sarah looked up to face Nicole Powers, the floor manager, before looking at her watch.

"My shift is over, Nicole," Sarah laughed, pointing to her watch. "We got it covered, promise." She shot a knowing glance to Parker, who returned it only with an uncertain frown.

The woman sighed, relaxing into a more friendly demeanor. "Yeah, well, the boss has been asking for you for the past couple of hours now." She motioned behind her at an office enclosed in glass. "You'd better go see what's up."

Sarah's eyes widened. She habitually began to brush off her clothes and fix her hair, which was now cut short. Against the protests of her friends and family, she argued that it was more convenient in stormy weather. "Why does he want to speak with _me_?"

"Don't ask me!" Nicole rolled her eyes, then leaned in closer so only Sarah could hear what she had to say. "He seems like he's in a good mood though, if that's any consolation."

Sarah let out a sigh of relief. "Alright, well you two go ahead without me. I'm not sure how long this will take."

"Sure thing," said Parker, giving a false salute as Sarah began to turn toward the office in the back of the building. "Good luck, Sarah," he smiled. Nicole gave her a thumbs up, and Sarah waved goodbye before stepping into her boss's office.

"Williams!" came the familiar enthusiastic bellow of the head of the network station. Her boss, Mr. Fowler, was a trim man, but was getting on his years, as evidenced by his graying and receding hairline. It was rumored that he would soon announce his retirement; a somewhat unfortunate claim, as he provided much of the energy behind the scenes at the station and Sarah had grown quite fond of his humorous antics. "Glad to see you; I trust Powers mentioned I was looking for you?"

"Yes sir, she did," Sarah replied before taking the seat being offered to her.

"There's no need to be so formal. You're one of our top storm chasers, after all!"

"I'm...one of your _only_ storm chasers sir, if you don't mind me saying..."

He didn't seem to hear her, and continued. "You know, I like you, Williams." He leaned forward a bit in his chair and smiled warmly. "Do you like it here, at Channel 2?"

Sarah fumbled a bit with her hands in her lap and felt her heart beat begin to pick up. "Um, yes sir, I like it very much."

"And how's Parker? Doing his job?" He narrowed his eyes a bit.

Sarah laughed nervously. "Well, he's still getting the hang of it, but..."

"Just what I wanted to hear! He's being replaced tomorrow."

Sarah felt as if she had just been bulldozed. Her jaw dropped. "W-what? But, but sir, he-"

Mr. Fowler's smile broadened. "He's not being fired, Sarah, just moved to a different crew. Goodness, I'm not that cruel."

She let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding before responding. "But sir, I need a photographer for my-"

"Of course, of course! Did you think I hadn't thought that through?" He lowered his voice, as if others could hear their conversation. "Actually, that's why I wanted to see you."

She mentally rolled her eyes. There went any hopes of the promotion speech that had seemed so promising moments ago.

"Have you heard of a David Evans, Ms. Williams?"

The use of a title caught her by surprise. It was a common name; she must have known a handful in her lifetime, but none that would merit a place in this conversation. "Um, no...can't say that I have." Her eyes shifted from side to side, suddenly uncomfortable under the scrutiny of her employer.

"He's an up-and-coming photographer from New York; very talented, a lot of potential. Well recently, he's taken an interest in photographing nature, particularly storms, and has requested, with it being tornado season and all, that he accompany one of our crews into the field for a short time."

Sarah nodded slowly, still slightly irked by the fact that she was not here to receive a pay raise. "So I assume you want me to be the escort?"

He nodded. "He'll arrive here tomorrow. Is that enough time to prepare?"

"Well there's not actually a lot I have to do to prepare, he just needs to know the safety regulations and then we can-"

"Wonderful, Williams! I knew you wouldn't let me down." He reached over his desk and patted her brusquely on the shoulder.

It wasn't as if she exactly had a choice. Nodding, she asked, "Will that be all, sir?"

Sitting in pensive thought for a moment, he suddenly responded, "Yes! That will be all. I'll see you tomorrow at work. And don't forget that we want to make a positive, lasting impression on our visitor."

_Oh I'm sure he'll take care of that by himself._ For some reason Sarah doubted that this so-called Evans had ever been in a tornado, let alone been on a storm chase. She sighed. Whatever the case, tomorrow was certain to be more of a babysitting job than an adventure. As she left the office and made her way out to her car in the overcast parking lot, she found herself wondering if Mr. Fowler had even heard of this David Evans before he had received his phone call.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Sarah overslept and had to rush to work. <em>Perfect day to be late<em>, she sarcastically mocked herself as she pulled on a windbreaker and grabbed her coffee before running out the door. She was about fifteen minutes late, and that was fifteen minutes that could have been spent chasing a major thunderstorm and potential tornadoes that were predicted to roll through central Illinois. She cursed as she jumped into her car and sped towards the network building.

"Sorry I'm late!" She called breathlessly as she ran through the garage door and up to her satellite van that awaited her every morning.

"We've got the van all set up for you, Sarah," called back one of her coworkers. She thought his name was Randy, but couldn't be sure.

"Thanks so much," she said honestly as she opened the door and double-checked all the preparations. "This is supposed to be the last big storm for a while; I want to make it count."

"Hey, aren't you supposed to be taking that new guy what's-his-name out today?" maybe-Randy called from the other side of the van as he checked the satellite equipment.

Oh yes, she had almost forgotten. Where was that guy, anyway? "Yeah," she drew out. "Dave or something, wasn't it?"

"It's David," a crisp voice said from behind her.

Startled, Sarah spun around to face the man who apparently was to accompany her today. He wore a newsboy cap that hid his hair and aviator sunglasses. She found it odd that anyone could be wearing sunglasses in such cloudy weather. Perhaps he had sensitive eyes. He was tall, slender, and wore clothes that apparently had been tailored to fit this shape. He certainly wasn't in the poor house, of that she was sure. Was this guy some kind of celebrity? Fowler had said he was talented but... Sarah quickly thought of her own appearance and cringed. Disheveled hair, a windbreaker. What could she say? Being in the field all the time never exactly gave her the opportunity to dress the part of reporter. When he seemed to have noticed her staring, she cleared her throat. "Sorry, I'm-"

"Ms. Williams, I presume. Mr. Fowler has told me about you." His lips curved upward slightly. The way he stood there and smiled was almost familiar...almost. _Like an actor in a movie familiar?_ she chastised herself. She extended her hand, which he took with his opposite gloved hand, and they shook. She didn't have time to think about the strange butterflies-in-the-stomach feeling she got when this happened. What was her problem? She promised herself one thing: she was not about to start crushing on this man she had just met.

When they let go of each other's hands, she fidgeted awkwardly for a moment before spinning around and heading for the van's open door. David followed.

The van suddenly felt _very_ small. She glanced over at him. He was putting his seatbelt on and situating his camera equipment. And he was still wearing those blasted sunglasses. She preferred to see someone's face when she was introduced; it made her feel more at ease. But it wasn't as if she was in a position to start ordering him to take them off. She sighed as she nonchalantly began to inform him of the necessary precautions.

"Alright, so first thing's first." She released the emergency break after putting her own seat belt on and turned the key in the ignition. "I'll do my best to keep a safe distance from the storm, but if something happens..." She turned her head to look out of the back window as she hastily put the van in reverse and eased out of the driveway. "I'm not liable."

The man next to her chuckled, which he quickly disguised as a cough. "That's some safety protocol," he commented, as if trying to sound interested.

She rolled her eyes and continued. "If anything happens, the list of the emergency numbers is on the dash, and you can use the radio to call the station at any time. The first aid kit is in the glove box." She motioned to the area of the dashboard between his knees, and then immediately wish she hadn't, as it resulted in her thinking of things that she found highly inappropriate to be thinking of a man she had only just met.

The drive continued on in silence for a while, with only the roar of the engine and the howling wind as a distraction. Sarah gripped the steering wheel, glancing up from time to time at the gray clouds drifting overhead, making note of the distance between them and the ominous black storm in the distance.

"So, where are you from?" she forced with a smile. She had never been one for making conversation. Who would have thought that she would miss that wimpy Parker kid?

He was silent for a moment before replying sarcastically, "Take a wild guess."

The question threw her off guard for a moment, but she soon recovered. "Well from your accent I'd guess you were from the UK." She shot a sideways glance in an attempt to see if his expression revealed a correct answer. She noticed that he was smiling. Suddenly uncomfortable, she shifted in her seat and readjusted her hands on the steering wheel. The sky was darkening, and she could feel the wind begin to pick up outside of the vehicle. She found herself having to concentrate more than usual to keep the van on the road.

"A fair deduction," he finally said cryptically. His sunglasses made it difficult to tell whether or not he was staring at the road in front of him.

"So I'm wrong?" Sarah answered hesitantly.

"I never said that," he answered again with a half smile.

She let out a frustrated sigh, but didn't press the subject when he fell silent.

The car ride continued on in silence for a while longer as Sarah desperately attempted to pinpoint exactly what was so familiar about this man. The way he talked sent shivers down her spine. But her scientific mind would not allow her to consider certain possibilities that were circulating in her caged imagination. She blinked purposefully, concentrating again on the road.

"You seem to be successful, Ms. Williams," David said abruptly, changing the subject. "Are you happy with your job?"

She took in a shaky breath. _He's just trying to be polite_, she told herself, summoning the will to answer. "Quite, Mr. Evans." She bit her lip as she gazed into the distance.

"I see," he replied quietly. "But never married?" he chided. "What a pity."

Sarah froze. She glanced at her bare hands on the steering wheel. But no; there was no imagining it anymore. Either someone was playing a sick joke, or... She slowly turned her head, jaw clenched and eyes wide, toward the relaxed man sitting next to her. An all too familiar smirk spread across his face, and she swallowed hard as he reached up a gloved hand to remove his sunglasses. She felt herself trembling now, but whether it was out of fear or anticipation she couldn't say. Perhaps it was both; or something different entirely.

He slowly pulled down his aviator sunglasses to reveal the pair of ice blue eyes that Sarah never would have forgotten as long as she lived, even if she had never seen them again. She met his mismatched gaze as he spoke in a tone she was much more familiar with; one that froze her to the core.

"Hello, Sarah."

* * *

><p><strong>Disclaimer:<strong> I do not own Labyrinth or any of its characters. Labyrinth belongs to The Jim Henson Company and all applicable associates.

**A/N:**

*laughs evilly* Fear not, I am already hard at work on upcoming chapters. I thought long and hard about their inevitable encounter, but I do hope it's not moving too quickly...? Also, I made the decision to make Sarah's hair short, partially because I'm trying to develop a different type of personality for her in this story, but also because I don't think it's done enough.

And if you haven't already guessed, this fic's title came from the song "Wild is the Wind," performed by David Bowie on _Station to Station_. This chapter title shares the title of one of my favorite tracks from Bowie's album _Low_, "A New Career in a New Town," and the first chapter also is named after the song "No Control" on his album _Outside_.

Reviews are crack!


	3. Always Crashing in the Same Car

**Chapter 3 - Always Crashing in the Same Car**

"Hello, Sarah."

The world stopped moving. Her mind went blank. All she could manage to do was gape at the smirking man sitting next to her, head full of questions, criticisms, demands, but unable to articulate any of these things.

"You may want to watch where you're going," he said almost nonchalantly, nodding toward the slick road ahead of them.

Snapping her head back to the front of the car, she pulled the steering wheel jerkily, steering the van away from the edge of the road. He wasn't supposed to exist! His very presence defied the laws of nature, never mind the startling effect he was having on her psyche. Of course he would choose now to show up, and like this! _This is just_ perfect, she thought nervously, noticing her hands beginning to tremble. This wasn't happening. Not now, not after all this time.

She quickly changed her mind to correct the vehicle and instead pulled off to the side again, this time bringing the van to a bumpy halt. Storm or not, she was not about to work under these conditions. "Get out," she said simply, even having the courtesy to throw the gear shift into park before crossing her arms.

She heard him laugh nervously beside her as he glanced out the window at the accumulating clouds overhead. "Now Sarah..."

"Don't bother," she retaliated rather weakly. "I said get out. I don't have time for this."

Should he really have expected anything different from the Labyrinth's Champion? Perhaps he hadn't planned this out quite as carefully as he ought to have. But he had already waited long enough. He sighed. "You don't even wish to know why I am here?" His eyes shifted over to her tight grip on the steering wheel, which was quickly turning her knuckles white. She bit her lip, pausing just long enough for him to confirm the fact that she was significantly more nervous and slightly more interested than her words implied.

Suddenly, she unbuckled her seatbelt. He heard a heavy click, and watched her lean against the metal door and slide out of the driver's seat. She motioned for him to follow.

If what Sarah thought was happening was really happening and wasn't some hallucinogenic fruit-induced dream, there was no way she was dealing with it in the confines of a cramped vehicle in the middle of nowhere. Not with him. She waited for him to round the van before she looked up, making every attempt to look only at his face, which almost made things more difficult. He only returned her fiery gaze with a smile, frustrating her further.

"Alright Goblin King, enlighten me. What _are_ you doing here?" she called out over the howling wind. She cringed, realizing that by having said his title she accepted his presence, but she hugged her arms close to her chest, refusing to back down.

He sauntered over to where she was standing and leaned against the van, hands in his pockets, and shrugged, hoping to come off as unthreatening as possible. How was he supposed to tell her his true reason for being there without scaring her off or lying? She would, after all, come to discover the truth eventually, and every word he said had the potential to effect their future relations. He thought through a few responses before settling on a more neutral approach. "Perhaps you're not in the mood to hear it."

She stood there, simply staring, as if expecting him to say something else. How dare he stand there and act so...so... She clenched her jaw and gave him one more piercing glare before letting out a deep breath and smiling slightly. "Very well."

She pivoted on her right foot and reopened the car door, a part of her refusing to believe that any of this was real. If she returned to the station alone, there would be no David Evans. And if there was no David Evans, there was no Goblin King. But before she could get one leg into the van, he stopped her.

"Sarah, wait."

The words sent a jolt through her body. They sounded so similar to the ones she had heard him speak during their last encounter. He reached up to remove his hat, his blond hair now cropped short but just as unruly as she remembered. It whipped around his face in the wind, his angular features even more defined now that they were framed by a more modern haircut. When she turned to see him step closer to her, the pain she saw in his eyes brought back memories of fifteen years past, and she forced herself to look away.

"I've been searching for you for a long time." He paused at seeing just for a moment the unguarded surprise in her bright green eyes. He could have sworn he saw a glimpse of the excitement of the young girl who had once so determinately traversed his kingdom, but it was gone too soon.

She shut her eyes tightly, refusing to make eye contact again. Sighing again, she looked at the horizon. The storm was approaching, and if they didn't get moving fast, they would risk being trapped in it. She gritted her teeth and motioned toward the car. "Get in."

He obeyed, not wishing to risk pushing her over the edge. That would get him nowhere at this point. He had found Sarah, and he had managed to make contact with her without suffering complete rejection and finding himself abandoned in the Midwest. Of course, he reasoned with himself, that was likely due to the fact that she would undoubtedly be fired once her employer discovered that she had left their honored guest on a strip of deserted road in the middle of a thunderstorm. _Although_, he thought as he jumped in the van and slammed the door right before Sarah stepped on the gas, _I wouldn't put it past her_.

"So if you were looking for me," Sarah started sarcastically, unsure of how to go about having a conversation with a man who she hadn't seen for the last half of her life, "_why_ didn't you use one of your crystals to find me, or just poof into my apartment?" She decided to avoid the question of why he had been looking for her, as she wasn't completely sure she would be mentally prepared to handle his answer in her current state of operating a motor vehicle.

Sarah wasn't the only one glad that she had decided not to voice that question first. Grateful for this, he decided to keep his comments about her choice of verb concerning his teleportation ability to himself for the time being. Jareth sighed, not quite sure how to begin. He figured that honesty wouldn't hurt anyone in this situation. "I couldn't," he replied simply.

Sarah said nothing as they sped down the road, waiting for him to continue.

"After...what happened fifteen years go, I have not had access to magic of any kind." When she was silent he looked at her, but she kept her gaze fixed on the approaching clouds. "I happened to see you on television, and-"

"Wait," she interrupted, and looked at him. "You mean to tell me that you have been living..._here_," she motioned dramatically around the car, "for the past fifteen years?"

He sighed heavily. "Yes," was all he said in response to her outburst.

She stared at him in disbelief. The Goblin King, living as a normal human being? It was difficult for her to imagine. But here was the evidence, staring her straight in the face. The situation was well past the point of ignoring it. After all, the man sitting beside her (if that's indeed what he was) was none other than her very teenage fantasies incarnate. She stole a glance at his figure again before focusing on driving. There was nothing she could do at this point but attempt to keep a cool head while figuring out his motives for being here. _That's likely._ He didn't seem to be a threat, but magic or not, he was still the Goblin King.

"Don't think that I've enjoyed one minute of it," he retaliated. "I had no choice in the matter."

She had a hard time wrapping her head around what he was saying. "So..." she started. They both knew what she was going to ask. "I'm just going to point out the elephant in the room here and uh..." She looked over at him to see him taking out of his bag what seemed to be a very expensive camera. He seemed to have dropped the conversation.

"The what?" he asked distractedly as he leaned over in his seat to affix the lens to his camera.

"The-" She stopped herself. "Never mind," she finished quickly. But he didn't seem to hear her as he rolled down his window and adjusted the camera strap around his neck.

"What are you doing?" she yelled in surprise over the now fierce wind blasting through the van's cab.

He glanced back at her, hair whipping about his face, and raised his eyebrows. "My job," he replied simply before turning his attention back to the camera.

She watched, paying only slight attention to the road, as he focused the lens with his free hand, absorbed in his work. She shouldn't have been surprised that he actually _could_ take photographs; after all, Fowler wouldn't allow just anyone to book a meteorologist for a day. His hand movements as he stabilized his camera were precise and calculated, and she watched with awe as he began to snap photos of the approaching cumulonimbus, making slight adjustments as necessary with his skilled gloved fingers.

He glanced back at her when he noticed the van beginning to drift again, and she quickly tore her eyes from him, biting her lip as she felt her face heat. "The wind," she offered weakly.

So Sarah had not completely lost interest in all things fantastic, he mused to himself. Perhaps he had been placed in a better position than he expected.

They drove on, rain continuing to hit the windshield with an accelerated force. They got out of the car a few times so Sarah could take measurements and record the storm's progression and so Jareth could take pictures. She had so many more questions, but thought they were best left for a later time. In all honestly, for as interesting as all of this was, Sarah wanted nothing more than to get back to her apartment so she could-with the help of the world's best medicine-ease the weight that these recent developments had placed on her heart and mind.

They continued on in silence, with only infrequent and inconsequential small talk to break it, until they made it back to the station around sunset. It was already mostly deserted. Sarah closed her eyes tightly for a moment to collect her thoughts before exiting the car and locking the doors after the Goblin King did the same. They rounded the van and met at the front, and she still could not bring herself to look at him for more than a moment. Crossing her arms she asked, "So do you want to tell me what you're really doing here?"

He shouldn't have been taken off guard by the question. He looked at her. Her scalding green eyes bore into him, but while she seemed focused, she did not seem particularly determined to derive an answer. This was not the time or place for answering these kinds of questions. Then again, there probably was no ideal situation in which to do so. "Would you like to join me for coffee?" he offered politely, hoping she would accept.

Sarah pursed her lips and faced him. "I need answers, Gob-David," she corrected, glancing around for any signs of life besides themselves. "You can't honestly expect me to go home tonight and pretend like none of this ever happened. I think I deserve an honest answer."

He looked at her sadly, almost with pity, and she suddenly felt even more uncomfortable than she had a moment ago. What had happened to the demeaning, cold-hearted, mischievous Goblin King from her youth? The Goblin King who played tricks and stole-. Sarah froze, eyes widening. "Wait." Then, narrowing her eyes and stepping back said slowly, "You're not expecting me...to go _back_ with you."

She was sharper than he thought. He cringed at how quickly she had discovered his motive and ran a hand through his wind-blown hair, taking a step forward. "Sarah, I-"

"No." She started to walk backwards, fear now visible in her emerald eyes, and laughed nervously. "You're kidding. After fifteen years, after I beat you at your own game, after I have a_ life_, you expect me to-" She looked him up and down with disgust, realizing that she had hit the bullseye. "Oh my god."

Of course he didn't _expect_ her to. That was part of the problem. How did the Labyrinth expect him to return them both to the Underground when he did not have her cooperation? He, after all, no longer had access to magic. "Sarah-"

"_Don't_," she responded tensely, holding up an arm to distance herself from him. "I don't want to see you again." And then, as she looked directly into his striking mismatched eyes, said slowly, "You have no power over me."

And she left him there, alone in the garage of the broadcasting studio, his features pained as they had been fifteen years ago when she had said the very same words. She spun around and walked quickly to her car, not bothering to glance back to check if he was following her.

He stood there and watched her go, knowing he didn't have the right words to stop her. The shock was expected, but he found himself wondering if she would ever come to accept his presence or her inevitable fate. Of course, after saying those words once, they no longer held equivalent meaning. She already had power over him, and a rather significant amount of it at that, especially considering his current predicament. He gathered his things, wondering if their next encounter would be any more fruitful.

"Damn that glittery bastard!" Sarah yelled into her empty apartment as she slammed the door. "How dare he just show up like that and act like everything is normal and then spring something like that on me at the end of the day?"

_You did ask him to_, her inner voice chimed.

She paused. "It doesn't matter. He can't just show up after a decade and a half and expect me to accept everything he says like I'm some hormonal teenager." The fact that she was currently acting like one wasn't the point. What scared her a little bit was that, for a few years after rescuing Toby, there was a very good chance she _would_ have gone back with him had he asked her to. Although she had immediately rejected all childish things upon her return, the Goblin King was one thing she knew she would never forget. Especially after the dreams...she shook her head, refusing to think about it. She wasn't a teenager anymore; she was thirty years old and she had a life.

_Which is why I can do this_, she thought to herself while reaching for the whiskey on the top shelf. And she drank her worries away, refusing to deal with her feelings on the subject as would any mature adult.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Sarah single-mindedly drove to the network station with a renewed sense of purpose. First, she knew that if David Evans had any sense, he wouldn't come within 200 yards of the building. And second, if she got there and left early enough, she wouldn't even have to worry about it if he did, as she would be miles away by the time he showed up. And this was her master plan to avoid the man whose secret only she knew for however long it took for him to get the message.<p>

As she pulled up to the station, her plan seemed to be working. There was no Goblin King in sight, and only a few of the crew members had started set-up.

"Hey Williams!" someone called from behind her.

She didn't have to turn around to know who it was. "Parker, what are you doing here so early?" She forced a grin, trying to be polite.

"I was about to ask you the same thing," the young man laughed. He continued when she didn't say anything, but lowered his voice. "I'm being put with a new crew for a while since you've got that Evans guy. How's that going, anyway?"

Sarah rolled her eyes. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Come on, it can't be-"

"I'm serious, Parker." She gazed at him earnestly, hoping he would understand and not pry any further.

"All right, I get it," he replied suspiciously. "Have a nice day, Williams." She nodded and he turned to her one last time. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine," she said impatiently, but felt a wave of guilt rush over her when she saw his worried expression. "I'm sorry, Parker." She placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm fine, really. I've just got a lot on my mind."

He nodded slowly. "All right, well be careful today. The forecast called for fog." He paused to look behind him. "In fact, you might want to wait a bit; I overheard Fowler saying he might not send out the crews today because of it."

She nodded absently. There was no way she was going to wait around for someone to make a call when you-know-who could show up at any given moment.

After grabbing a coffee, she turned, left the office building, and got in the van. It was so early that no one had even opened the garage door, so she took it upon herself to do so and pulled out of the station's driveway.

Once she was on the road, she kicked herself for being so immature. Had she really sunk so low as to sneak around before sunrise just to escape seeing her fantasy world nemesis? She shook her head. What's done was done. Perhaps today she could actually get some work done and be able to focus without the distraction of that glittery excuse for a monarch.

She drove on in silence, her mind filled with thoughts from the previous day. It wasn't until about an hour or so into her drive that she noticed that the thick fog was not lifting. Squinting did her no good, and even her flood lights couldn't cut through the thick mist. Frustrated, she picked up her speed slightly, confident that there was no one in front of her. She had been this way before; no one was out on the road this early.

The fog seemed to go on forever. "God damn weather..." she muttered as she rolled down her window and looked out in an attempt to get a better view. Nothing. Maybe she should have stayed back at the station. There was no way she was going to get anything done in this haze.

_Sarah..._

She twitched, startled, having thought someone had said her name. Obviously, no one else was in the car. She criticized herself for being so jumpy. _Must have had too much to drink last night._

But just as she was about to pull over and turn around, she felt the steering wheel catch; there must have been some debris on the road. It all happened so fast. She tried desperately to take control of the vehicle, which she felt slipping quickly out of her grasp. She went into panic mode, but there was no time to think.

And then everything went black.

* * *

><p>Sarah awoke to an excruciating pain in her side that made her cry out. Blood. She smelled blood. She couldn't focus; everything was blurred. Why couldn't she move? Every time she attempted to it felt as if she would run out of breath or tear herself in two. Where was she? What had she been doing? Trying to remember proved futile.<p>

There was broken glass everywhere. She managed to look down, but all she saw was blood and would have become sick if the pain wasn't too much to allow her to do so. Her mind began to fade. Was she dying? She couldn't be dying. She was too dignified to die like this.

_Sarah Williams, Champion of the Labyrinth._

Champion of the Labyrinth. This was all because of him. That deceitful, unnerving, infuriatingly handsome... No...it wasn't going to end this way. It couldn't.

She mustered up the last of her strength and focused on two words: "I wish..." Her throat went dry, and she couldn't focus long enough to manage anything else. The world was going dark. Everything seemed to become smaller, less clear, as she slipped into the void. But as her eyes slipped shut, her traumatized body going into shock, one word slipped past her lips.

"Jareth..."

* * *

><p><strong>Disclaimer:<strong> I do not own Labyrinth or any of its characters. Labyrinth belongs to The Jim Henson Company and all applicable associates.

**A/N:**

Another cliffy; I know I'm horrible! Chapter title comes from the track of the same title from Bowie's album _Low_.

Please review! I would very much like to improve my writing, and constructive criticism helps me do so.


	4. Can You Hear Me

**Chapter 4 - Can You Hear Me**

The Goblin King felt a familiar jolt in his being that he had not felt in ages. He found himself in unfamiliar surroundings; everything was shrouded in fog. Someone had wished for something, and by doing so had summoned him of his or her own accord. But how was that possible? He twisted his wrist in hopes of conjuring a crystal, and scowled when his hand remained empty. He still had no access to his magic. So why...?

Something wasn't right.

He smelled danger. He smelled blood. That was when he made out the vehicle in the distance, which seemed as though it had run directly into a thick tree on the side of the road. He knew that van. His heart skipped a beat, his breathing becoming labored as he began to realize what had happened.

"No, no, no," he muttered to himself as he dashed to the scene of the accident, only to have his worst fears realized. There, in the driver's seat-or what was left of one-was Sarah.

He didn't waste any time. He immediately dialed 911 and informed them of the situation; they were sending someone right away. _Right away is not fast enough!_ He had not come all this way and waited all this time to have her die the day after he had reestablished contact with her. He took it upon himself to remedy the situation.

Pulling at the heavy metal door on the driver's side, Jareth managed to pry it open just enough so he could make his way to Sarah's injured body. If only he had magic. But if he had had magic, this would have never happened in the first place. Was this the Labyrinth's doing? Why had it made no effort to contact him? Wouldn't it be aware that the only source of hope for its survival was dying? He tore angrily at the van's broken frame until he finally reached her bloody, mangled body. Praying to the gods, he felt her neck for a pulse and released a shaky breath when he realized that not all hope was lost. She had lost a significant amount of blood. It was probably a combination of that and the trauma that caused her to black out.

"Sarah," he said firmly. There was no response. "Can you hear me?" Nothing. He didn't want to risk moving her too much as he did not know the extent of her injuries, but even if for selfish reasons, he needed to know that she was aware of his presence. Her breathing was shallow and labored; he guessed that she had broken some ribs or had a collapsed lung or both. Suddenly, he saw her eyelids flutter as she struggled for consciousness.

"Sarah I need you to listen to me." He brushed her bangs out of her face and attempted to make eye contact, but it was no use. He felt so helpless. He swore that when he made it back to the Underground he would make it a point to throttle the Labyrinth into submission, whether or not this was directly her fault. The fact was, it was completely preventable, and there was no reason to risk what had the potential to restore power to himself and his kingdom.

But as he sat there holding onto her beaten figure that was so desperately clinging to life, Jareth found a very different emotion well up inside of him, one that he hadn't felt in years. He didn't want to see Sarah die because_ he_ didn't want her to. He ran his fingers through her short, dark hair, moving it away from her face. "Sarah," he whispered, grateful to hear the sound of sirens in the distance. "I will not let you die. I swear it."

* * *

><p>Sarah awoke to a horrid beeping noise. Her alarm clock? No, the tempo wasn't fast enough. She attempted to ignore it, wanting nothing more than to slip back under the blanket of darkness and comfortable sleep, but it wouldn't cease. Then again, she hadn't been having very pleasant dreams. Perhaps it was best if she woke up. But if she woke up, that would mean having to go to work and risk running into you-know-who. ...Well, all of her dreams hadn't been so bad. She had one where he had come to rescue her and had been quite uncharacteristically valiant. She smiled inwardly at this, but someone's voice interrupted her reverie.<p>

"Sarah? Sarah honey, can you hear me?"

It was her father. She hadn't seen her father in months. She only went home during her break for the holidays, and even then time always seemed to be cut short. He seemed worried, as if her response was important. Fighting the thick veil of sleep, Sarah slowly began to open her eyes.

Something didn't feel right. She felt stiff all over, and an acute pain in her side nearly made her gasp. Why couldn't she move? Her eyelids fluttered, but she shut them tightly soon afterwards to shield herself against the bright light filling the room and the sudden pain that was rapidly overriding her senses.

"Sarah, are you awake?" And then more quietly, "Karen, get the nurse."

It was her father's voice again. She heard him mutter something else, but couldn't concentrate enough to hear what he was saying. She groaned in response, twisting her head on what she found to be a scratchy pillowcase. She felt him grip her hand. "Dad?" she managed slowly as she squinted her eyes. Indeed, there was her father, hovering over her, with a worried look that she'd never seen him bare the likes of before. On further inspection, she noticed that Karen was standing beside him, looking not quite as concerned, but still more than her usually hard exterior allowed. "What happened?"

He frowned and squeezed her hand tighter. His eyes were red. Had he been crying? "You were in a car accident, sweetheart. Do you remember?"

A car accident? That was probably why everything hurt so much. She flexed her fingers and toes; at least she was still more or less in one piece. "Um..." was all she could say. She found it hard to breathe.

"It's okay," he consoled her. "The doctor will be here soon to tell you more than I can."

At just that moment, a tall, older man in a white coat came through the door and stepped up to her bed after asking her father politely to move aside. "Ms. Williams, can you hear me?" His voice was stern, but soothing.

She nodded as best she could. He then asked her to perform a series of simple exercises, which included moving her toes, squeezing his fingers, and looking at a light he held. It took more out of her than she expected. She watched the doctor say something to her father and stepmother and saw them both breathe sighs of relief. Then, he turned to the bed again and spoke.

"You were in an accident, Ms. Williams. Do you remember anything?"

It hurt too much to think. Her wide eyes searched the doctor's face desperately.

_Return to me, Sarah Williams._

She closed her eyes. That was the only thing she remembered. Someone had spoken to her, and then she lost control of the van. She didn't remember anything after that, and she wasn't about to tell the doctor that she was hearing voices. "I'm sorry..." she started.

"It's all right," the doctor said comfortingly. "Memories of the accident sometimes come back to the victim later in the recovery. The important thing is that you're safe." He smiled warmly. "I'll leave you some time alone with your family. The nurse will be in soon to adjust your medication." The doctor left, closing the door to leave her alone with her parents.

"Where's Toby?" she asked weakly, looking around the bland whitewashed hospital room.

"He's at home, dear," came the voice of her step mother. "As soon as we heard, we took the first flight to Chicago."

"We're just glad you're all right," her father said sympathetically, handing her a cup of water that she accepted gratefully. "If it wasn't for David, I don't want to think about where you'd be right now."

Sarah choked mid-sip, going into an excruciatingly painful coughing fit. "Who?" she gasped as she finally caught her breath, clutching her chest.

"David," Karen repeated softly, rubbing her back in case she started coughing again. "I'm surprised you didn't tell us about him, Sarah. He's a sweet boy, not to mention handsome." She winked, catching Sarah off guard. "But in all seriousness, he did save your life. If he hadn't been there with you..."

"Wait," Sarah interrupted. "_He_ was the one who saved me?" It couldn't be. She tried to pay attention to what Karen was saying in her state of inner turmoil.

"Yes dear, are you so surprised? It's not as if your boyfriend would just leave you there." She smiled worriedly at Sarah's shocked expression. "And try not to talk so much; the doctor says you punctured a lung."

"My_ what_?" she nearly yelled before beginning to cough again, wincing at the pain. Her father handed her another cup of water, which she nursed slowly as she tried to control her breathing.

"I don't know why you felt the need to hide it from us Sarah," her father said, a similar tone of worry in his voice. "We're your parents after all, and we know that you're a responsible adult."

"But...I don't have a-" She didn't know if she was short of breath due to her apparently broken ribs or the extremity of the situation.

"We've talked with him already, and we think he's a perfectly nice gentleman. Not to mention he saved my daughter's life." He looked at her incredulously, as if at a loss for why his thirty-year-old daughter would feel the need to hide the fact that she had a significant other from her father.

"But really, I don't have a...boyfriend." The word itself was awkward to say, and she felt her face heat due to the fact that she was associating the Goblin King with such a trivial term.

Her parents exchanged worried glances before Karen spoke again. "The accident must have really gotten to you, Sarah. Don't worry, it'll be fine, and we're not going anywhere until we know that you're situated and being taken good care of." She smiled at her as if Sarah was some sort of mental patient.

She gaped at them. They didn't believe her! They thought that the car accident had given her enough of a concussion that she had temporarily forgotten about her own love life! This was bad. If she wasn't so incapacitated, she would have walked straight out those hospital doors to give a certain Goblin King the pummeling of a lifetime.

_But they said he saved your life,_ her inner voice rationalized.

_And he also claimed to be my boyfriend, unless dad and Karen are just assuming,_ she fumed.

"You must be a bit overwhelmed," Karen said, glancing at her husband. "We'll give you some room."

"We'll just be out in the lobby," her father said, attempting to comfort her. "If you need us..."

"I'll call." She managed a smile before watching them walk out of the room, feeling her eyes slip closed.

When Sarah awoke again, the sun was setting. She figured that the nurse must have already come in to adjust the medication in her IV, because she felt warm and slightly numb, the pain seeming to have lessened slightly. Still, she could feel a deep ache in her chest, and her breathing remained shallow. She sighed, looking over at the windowsill, before a shadowed figure caught her by surprise.

She attempted to sit up quickly, pulling the crunchy blanket over the unflattering hospital gown she wore. She didn't have to think twice about who it was. "You!" she rasped more than yelled.

His head snapped up at her voice. Had he been asleep? If he had been, he quickly recovered and sat up with his back flush against the wall, one leg on the cushion on the windowsill, the other hanging casually over the edge. "Me."

She wished she could see his face, which was obscured by shadows. "What did you do?" she said more quietly, as to not alert the hospital staff.

She watched him as he tossed back his head and scoffed. "What do you think I did? I saved your _life_." He shifted on the windowsill, allowing her to see his sharp features. She couldn't be certain, but he looked more concerned than angry. "Isn't that generous?" He smiled wickedly.

She wasn't up to playing these games with him. She closed her eyes, pretending that maybe, if she wished hard enough, he would simply disappear. When she opened them again, she found him still staring at her intently and sighed. "You know that's not what I meant. Why did you tell my parents that we were..."

"Involved?" he finished blandly. "I had no choice. I do hope you're not under the assumption that I enjoy it." He glared, swinging his other leg onto the windowsill and folding his arms. "If I wasn't of some relation to you, they wouldn't have allowed me to-" He stopped himself, realizing that he had already said too much.

She tried to focus on his once more obscured features, but her efforts proved futile. "Wouldn't have allowed you to what?"

He knew she wouldn't stop pestering until she got an answer. He clenched his jaw. "Accompany you," he mumbled through his teeth.

His confession took Sarah by surprise. Why would the Goblin King think it so important that he accompany her to the hospital? "Why," she began as sarcastically as she could in her current state, "because you couldn't stand to let your precious Labyrinth Champion venture to the hospital all by herself? Or was it because you needed a ride?"

He was silent. Then a thought struck her.

"Wait..." she started hesitantly, wondering if it was her harsh words or what was on the verge of being unmasked that had made him go so still. "You..._need_ me, don't you?"

She could have sworn she saw him flinch, his back rigid against the bland hospital wall. He barked a laugh, that characteristically toothy smile making another appearance. "You sound as if you have been misled to believe that I have been pining away for you all of these years." He waved his hand in a flourishing motion. "What a pity."

Sarah snorted weakly. "You wish." His lack of a clear answer was enough of one for her. Why would the Goblin King go chasing after her after she had beaten him fair and square? And with the guarantee of having no magic, no less? She quickly became serious again. "But you do need me for _something_, don't you, Goblin King?"

Her words were like daggers, each sentence slowly and painfully sinking into him. How did she know? Were his actions so obvious? He must have been loosing his touch. He chose not to answer.

"All right, don't tell me," she answered finitely, and then closed her eyes, trying to process everything that had happened within the past 48 hours.

It was silent for some time, and when Sarah opened her eyes again and glanced at the empty windowsill, she almost thought he had left. But one quick sweep around the room and she found Jareth alarmingly close to the end of her bed, his back facing her. He seemed to be deep in thought.

Sarah shifted to a more comfortable position-if one indeed existed-before asking softly, "What happened?" They both knew what the question implied. Everyone seemed to be under the impression that the Goblin King had been with her in the car the entire time, miraculously avoiding injury. She might have suffered a concussion, but she would have distinctly remembered if he had been in the car, and he definitely hadn't been.

He didn't move for a moment, and at first she thought he was going to remain silent. But he slowly turned his head toward her, his messy bangs falling around his eyes, a deep emotion that she couldn't name filling their normally cold depths. "You wished for me."

Her eyes widened. Had she? There had been a moment of desperation, a moment of longing...a moment of fear. Still, just her wishing for him shouldn't have done anything. "But you-"

"I know," he finished, turning his gaze away form her again. "It shouldn't have worked. If anyone has wished for me during the past fifteen years, I have no knowledge of it."

"Then how-"

"Perhaps you would like to answer that question for me." He spun around to face her, walking with soft but swift steps to her bedside. He bent at the waist and brought his face close to hers, but did not make eye contact, preferring to stare at the window. Sarah flinched, her body tense, but she didn't speak. "How is it, Sarah Williams..." Her name flowed off his tongue like liquid chocolate, sending a tingle through her body. "That you still hold the power to summon me even though I am completely devoid of magic?"

The problem was infuriating to him. Although secretly grateful that she had managed to summon him in time, the mechanics behind such a wish left him bereft of all logical answers. Could it possibly mean that an amount of magic still resonated within him, providing the key to his return to the Underground? But he could feel no trace of his former power within himself. The lack of potential solutions was maddening.

"How am I supposed to know?" She lifted her arms and weakly attempted to push him away, but he moved before she could make contact. How this man could have possibly made a positive impression on her parents she hadn't the slightest idea. She looked down at the sound of creaking leather and noticed that he was balling his fists.

He was silent for a moment before attempting to gain a margin of composure by closing his eyes and gritting his teeth. "You should get some rest," he bit out, and strode swiftly toward the door.

But as he placed his hand on the doorknob, Sarah stopped him. "Wait..." Her voice was nearly a whisper.

He paused at the sound of her voice, but did not turn to face her.

She couldn't believe she was about to tell this to the Goblin King of all people, but she had a distinct feeling that if anyone would believe her, it would be him. "I don't know if it helps, but...I remember, before the accident...I heard something."

She saw him go rigid, his hand still on the doorknob. "What did you hear?" he said slowly but firmly.

She bit her lip, not wishing to sound foolish. "Someone...said my name."

He was silent for a time, and then, without answering, opened the door and stepped outside in one fluid motion, as if he had never stopped moving to begin with.

* * *

><p>Sarah didn't remember closing her eyes, but she certainly remembered opening them, as she immediately used her hand as a shield from the blinding light that flooded her empty hospital room. She was feeling slightly more well rested, but pain still wracked her body. Her mouth was as dry as sand paper, but when she tried to reach over for the cup of water near her bed, she found herself unable to do so. Just as she was about to give up and lie back down again out of frustration, the door to her room opened and a nurse stepped inside.<p>

"How are you feeling today, Ms. Williams?" the petite woman asked kindly as she walked up to the monitors next to Sarah's bed and started writing down something on her clipboard.

Was that a joke? "I don't exactly feel chipper, if that's what you mean," she replied sarcastically.

The nurse ignored her snarky comment and smiled at her brightly. "You can probably go home today, if the doctor OKs these results. I just need to run a few tests and you should be good to go. Your life isn't in danger, so there's no reason for you to stay here any longer than you have to."

That was a relief to hear. She couldn't say she was a fan of the sterile dreariness of the hospital with all of its metallic surfaces and white walls. It would be nice to get home. Though how she would manage that without being able to move she hadn't a clue. Oh, the perks of living alone on the eighth floor of an apartment building.

Not two minutes after the nurse had left, her dad and Karen came bursting through the door, relief on their faces. Sarah smiled, happy to see them again, but her mood dropped like a rock when she saw who entered the room behind them.

There he stood, stoic as always, today wearing dark jeans and a blazer that fit snugly over his lean frame. And here she was in a hospital gown, not having showered in who knows how long. It was a good thing she wasn't trying to impress him, or she probably would have been tossed into the Bog of Eternal Stench long ago. It was too early to deal with this.

But if she wasn't mistaken, she could almost see a tension in the way he stood, the way his mismatched eyes darted back and forth across the room, to her parents, and back to Sarah. What had him so worked up? She was about to find out.

"How are you feeling, honey?" her father asked softly as he patted her head like he used to when she was a little girl.

She squinted her eyes shut and attempted to sigh normally, but injured as she was, it didn't have quite the dramatic effect she was aiming for. "Oh I'm just _peachy_," she said without thinking, then choked back a gasp as she saw a smile break out on the Goblin King's face. "I dunno dad," she recovered, "how would you feel if you'd just plowed headfirst into an immovable object at 70 miles per hour?"

She felt guilty at the distraught look that passed over her father's face, but Karen quickly retaliated. "I see she's back to her old dramatic self." She placed a hand on his shoulder as he took a step back. "We heard the doctors say that you should be cleared to go home today," Karen continued.

"Yeah, I heard," Sarah started, still keeping a wary eye on Jareth who was still standing quietly by the door. "But I might need a little bit of help getting there..." she confessed, looking down at her sorry state.

"Of course," Karen beamed uncharacteristically. "We did fly all the way out to Chicago. We wouldn't just abandon you like that."

Sarah breathed a sigh of relief.

"That's why your father and I have decided it would be best if David help you out until you're able to get around on your own again. Isn't that right Robert?"

Sarah didn't hear her father's reply. Her eyes had gone wide with shock, attempting futilely to burn a hole into the skull of the Goblin King from across the room. But it seemed as if he was having enough of a shock himself at the words. So they weren't in cahoots after all.

"Wait, I-" Sarah and Jareth spoke in unison.

"You wouldn't mind staying a few nights at Sarah's place to help her out, would you David?" Karen asked, turning to him. "It's just that Robert and I have to get back to work, and..."

"Karen!" Sarah rasped. She shot Jareth a glance that screamed 'Help me!' but he only returned it with one of similar confusion.

"Mrs. Williams," he finally spoke. "I believe we've had a misunderstanding. I don't live with Sarah, and I am here strictly on business. Surely she can-"

"You can't offer a bit of sympathy to your girlfriend who's just been in a car accident?" she asked sweetly, though the exasperation in her voice was apparent.

Jareth winced, trying to hide his emotions at this ludicrous situation. She was _their_ daughter! He cared little what he did as long as he stayed in close proximity to Sarah, but this was a bit closer than he had expected, not to mention that she would be completely unwilling to accept what they were suggesting. What had he gotten himself into?

"Karen's right," Sarah's father reinforced. "A few days couldn't hurt you, could it David? She can barely move by herself." He motioned with pity over at his daughter who was helplessly gaping at him, not quite unlike a fish gasping for air. "You're staying in a hotel, right? Think of this as free lodgings for a while. I'm honestly surprised you're _not_ staying at Sarah's apartment..." then muttered, "I didn't think I raised her _that_ strictly."

"Dad!" Sarah retaliated.

"Sarah you need someone to help you out for a while, and your mother and I left a lot of loose ends at home. Not to mention that Toby is probably worried..."

Oh, and as if their daughter getting in a car accident wasn't reason enough for them to take a few days off work. Sarah closed her eyes and tried to calm herself down. She knew there was no way either of them were getting out of this situation; not when Karen was involved.

A few moments of silence passed before Sarah realized that her parents were waiting for an answer. Jareth apparently made the same realization, as he cleared his throat.

"Don't worry about Sarah, Mr. and Mrs. Williams." His voice was strained. If she had not been knee deep in all of this as well, Sarah would have thought such an emotion coloring the Goblin King's voice to be amusing. But the situation was far from that, and now she would have no choice but to live in close quarters-while handicapped-with the man she was trying most desperately to get away from.

"Great, I'll grab her things and let the doctors know," her father said with a smile. How could they abandon her like this? Well, for all they knew, her and the Goblin King were a little more than chummy and found it to be an idillic solution to the problem at hand. Little did they know.

She should have dumped the Goblin King on that deserted strip of road when she had the chance. She should have listened to Parker. She should have not gone into work the other day. She should have done and not done a _lot_ of things. But the fact was, she was about to have a Goblin King for a roommate, whether she liked it or not.

* * *

><p><strong>Disclaimer:<strong> I do not own Labyrinth or any of its characters. Labyrinth belongs to The Jim Henson Company and all applicable associates.

**A/N:**

**So sorry for the delay. I had a string of nasty exams, but I am finally free (at least for about a month). Also, I've been experiencing a bout of writer's block, but perhaps that's only because I've been too stressed to write. Hoping to get back into it soon! Please review! They really keep me going and help me improve my writing.**

**Chapter title is from the song on Bowie's album _Young Americans_.**


End file.
